Netherlands

The Kingdom of Netherlands (Koninkrijk der Nederlanden), or Netherlands in short form, is a country in Western Europe bordered by the North Sea, and the countries Belgium and Germany. Netherlands or Nederlands in Dutch language literally means low land (neder means low and land means land). The name was given to the country as it is composed mostly of low lands, with some reclaimed areas from seas and rivers, and hills on its southeast region.

Amsterdam is the capital city of the Netherlands. It has 12 provinces namely: Drenthe, Fryslan, Flevoland, Zuid-Holland, Groningen, Zeeland, Gelderland, Limburg, Utrecht, Overijssel, Noord-Brabant, and Noord-Holland.

Its population is approximately 17 million, with almost 50% practicing Christianity as influenced by the Spanish invaders. Other religions aside from Roman Catholic include Protestantism, Judaism, Islam and Hinduism. The other half of the population is not practicing any religion at present.

Dutch is the official language of the country with almost 96% of the population using it as their mother tongue, though there are other parts of the country where Frisian language is the mother tongue (in Friesland). Dutch is also the language spoken in some of its neighboring countries like Belgium, and in former Dutch colonies like Indonesia. Other languages spoken in the country include Limburgish, Turkish and Arabic.

The Netherlands is popular for its cheese – semi-hard or hard in form. Cheese types vary from area to area, and some include Gyouda, Leyden, and Edam. Aside from cheese, the Dutch are also known for its chocolate as they were the ones who first made chocolate using cocoa.

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